The Grounds Coffee&Ministry in Dominican Republic
Donation protected
Hi! We are Kaylee and Tatis and we live in Montellano, Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.
For a little over five years, we have served this community in many different ways. From teaching to counseling to serving at church and most recently serving again in Young Life (a ministry around the world who shares the hope of the gospel with teens- who are our future!). For the past few years we have been dreaming of a community coffee shop and a place of our own to serve. To really make an impact. In the past few months we have been praying more than ever about that dream becoming a reality. And WOW!, have we seen God open so many doors in ways we never thought possible.
And we want to invite YOU into it all.
So what is the dream? It’s a lot more than just a coffee shop so buckle up, you with me?
First off, raise your hand if you have been filled up by drinking a cup of coffee with a dear friend….
Over the years I have come to realize that it is such a healing thing. We dream about creating that in our little town. A place where the Christian community goes to be filled. And anyone who walks in, leaves seeing Jesus in everything we do through intentional customer service, worship nights, small group meeting space and so much more. A place where community is encouraged, love overflows and so does the caffeine!
So if it is a coffee shop, where would small groups take place? We have designed it to have a separate room for small groups of around 20-25 max that people could use for Bible studies (oh, we can’t wait to gather our Young Life kids there weekly for Bible study), classes, birthday parties or workshops! And, I would love love love to use this space for counseling small groups and book studies too after seeing the impact over the years. I will also be creating an office space to do counseling for children and families once we get the business up and running.
Oh and now that I mentioned books… the hall is the PERFECT space for some retail store shelving. And I have dreamed for years of having a virtual Christian bookshop (with many physical options) since our side of the island does not have the choices we have always desired! What a blessing it would be to have these books close and to be able to offer bibles at prices that our community can afford! With the shelving space is so big (and you know my heart is huge for small businesses), we desire to have other small shops have the opportunity to rent out space too! Our heart would be that other small businesses would thrive alongside us through workshops and learning in this space.
Oh also, our Young Life kids! We have been praying about a new club space for a while now. And when we saw the back patio, we immediately knew it would be such a sweet place for our Young Life kids! We can’t wait to clean it up with them and make it into a sweet place to build memories and share Jesus! We think this space will be a blessing to not only them, but the whole community. The opportunities are endless for the ways this patio could be used, not only for us, but for other ministries too.
We are also planning on creating a space for Tatis Studio to grow our personal photography and videography business. And a good friend and amazing local Christian entrepreneur who has a successful hair salon for curly hair has been praying for a new space for a while. This seems to be a perfect match as we could serve her clients fresh coffee and treats and she would have a prime retail space in a place where the gospel in the priority!
So it is a lot… but we know that God is going to do abundantly more with this project than what we could even be able to dream or put into words.
For a little over five years, we have served this community in many different ways. From teaching to counseling to serving at church and most recently serving again in Young Life (a ministry around the world who shares the hope of the gospel with teens- who are our future!). For the past few years we have been dreaming of a community coffee shop and a place of our own to serve. To really make an impact. In the past few months we have been praying more than ever about that dream becoming a reality. And WOW!, have we seen God open so many doors in ways we never thought possible.
And we want to invite YOU into it all.
So what is the dream? It’s a lot more than just a coffee shop so buckle up, you with me?
First off, raise your hand if you have been filled up by drinking a cup of coffee with a dear friend….
Over the years I have come to realize that it is such a healing thing. We dream about creating that in our little town. A place where the Christian community goes to be filled. And anyone who walks in, leaves seeing Jesus in everything we do through intentional customer service, worship nights, small group meeting space and so much more. A place where community is encouraged, love overflows and so does the caffeine!
So if it is a coffee shop, where would small groups take place? We have designed it to have a separate room for small groups of around 20-25 max that people could use for Bible studies (oh, we can’t wait to gather our Young Life kids there weekly for Bible study), classes, birthday parties or workshops! And, I would love love love to use this space for counseling small groups and book studies too after seeing the impact over the years. I will also be creating an office space to do counseling for children and families once we get the business up and running.
Oh and now that I mentioned books… the hall is the PERFECT space for some retail store shelving. And I have dreamed for years of having a virtual Christian bookshop (with many physical options) since our side of the island does not have the choices we have always desired! What a blessing it would be to have these books close and to be able to offer bibles at prices that our community can afford! With the shelving space is so big (and you know my heart is huge for small businesses), we desire to have other small shops have the opportunity to rent out space too! Our heart would be that other small businesses would thrive alongside us through workshops and learning in this space.
Oh also, our Young Life kids! We have been praying about a new club space for a while now. And when we saw the back patio, we immediately knew it would be such a sweet place for our Young Life kids! We can’t wait to clean it up with them and make it into a sweet place to build memories and share Jesus! We think this space will be a blessing to not only them, but the whole community. The opportunities are endless for the ways this patio could be used, not only for us, but for other ministries too.
We are also planning on creating a space for Tatis Studio to grow our personal photography and videography business. And a good friend and amazing local Christian entrepreneur who has a successful hair salon for curly hair has been praying for a new space for a while. This seems to be a perfect match as we could serve her clients fresh coffee and treats and she would have a prime retail space in a place where the gospel in the priority!
So it is a lot… but we know that God is going to do abundantly more with this project than what we could even be able to dream or put into words.
As you can see in the photo, a lot is still missing from being ready. And we want to take our time to do it well. So we have divided it into three steps.
Step 1.
We already have $10,000 of the $15,000!
Goal: move into spaces by January 2022
- Get the retail space ready for renting out the back two spaces to Tatis Studio and New Texture hair salon. This is one of the bigger up front costs because the space still needs windows, doors and divisions.
The doors and windows cost $10,500 and then $1,500 of other finishing touches for the bathrooms, paint, security etc.
- Legal fees as we seek to pursue non profit status for this new venture.
$3,000
Step 2.
STEP TWO: $15,000
FULLY FUNDED! we are so excited to have received a gift towards this part and are so excited to begin working on our apartment space!
Goal: move in by March 2022
- See that part upstairs? There are four apartments and we will be moving into there and subletting others!
Step 3.
STEP THREE: $27,000
Goal: end of year 2022
- COFFEE SHOP FINALLY! This will cover appliances, furniture, finishing, supplies and making the space intentional for community to share! $23,000
- Event space and small groups. Flexible seating and tables for a variety of events! $2,000
- Shop! Creating the shelving space and trainings for the small business owners to get it up and running! $2,000
We already have $10,000 of the $15,000!
Goal: move into spaces by January 2022
- Get the retail space ready for renting out the back two spaces to Tatis Studio and New Texture hair salon. This is one of the bigger up front costs because the space still needs windows, doors and divisions.
The doors and windows cost $10,500 and then $1,500 of other finishing touches for the bathrooms, paint, security etc.
- Legal fees as we seek to pursue non profit status for this new venture.
$3,000
Step 2.
STEP TWO: $15,000
FULLY FUNDED! we are so excited to have received a gift towards this part and are so excited to begin working on our apartment space!
Goal: move in by March 2022
- See that part upstairs? There are four apartments and we will be moving into there and subletting others!
Step 3.
STEP THREE: $27,000
Goal: end of year 2022
- COFFEE SHOP FINALLY! This will cover appliances, furniture, finishing, supplies and making the space intentional for community to share! $23,000
- Event space and small groups. Flexible seating and tables for a variety of events! $2,000
- Shop! Creating the shelving space and trainings for the small business owners to get it up and running! $2,000
I would love to invite you into praying with us for this project as we trust that God will provide for His plans! If you have any advice or ideas, we would love to hear from you! And we know that God is going to use this in such big ways!
Organizer
Kaylee Howard
Organizer
Austin, TX